Q. How will I teach writing?
A. I will teach writing a little differently this year. I definitely plan to make my writing more hands on with my students actively engaged in their thoughts and experiences.
Q. How will I improve my own writing?
A. My trouble when it comes to writing is discipline. I never make myself actually sit down and write for fun as much as I should. Usually when I write now, it is simply because I have to write. This writing institute reinforced my desire and need to write for fun.
Q. How will your classroom look different?
A. I'm really not for sure on this question, because I am still formulating in my mind how I want my room different. One thing that I for sure want to add is more sharing. This upcoming year should be more them and less me. I should trust my kids more than I do when it comes to discussion.
Q. How will you use your demo in the fall?
A. I learned a lot of validating information about my topic. I went to my research feeling a little concerned that my demonstration wasn't research based. After finding all of the research that I did, that thought quickly went away. I actually had to not use some sources. I will definitely use my demo in my creative writing class, because I like the fact that it requires multiple intelligences and concentrated so much on the psychological aspects of the writing process. This is a topic that I am thoroughly interested in.
Q. What kinds of student writing samples can you collect?
A. I have already started to build a collection of student writing samples. These samples range from really thought provoking essays to constructed responses to really well answered benchmark examinations.
Q. How has your writing experience affected your plan?
A. This writing project has now lowered the boom on me to improve my teaching of writing as well as improving my own writing. It is now my resposibility to work toward improvement in those areas. I can't hide behind the "new guy" excuse anymore.
Q. How will you use other demonstrations next fall?
A. I am very excited about the demonstration that I got the chance to see and interact with. There are many demonstrations that deeply and positively moved me. I will use Michael's demonstration when I teach my creative writing class to be true to the moment. I will use Julia's demonstration in discussing character. I will use the demos of Laura, Terri, and Hayley in my poetry unit. Honestly, I could probably find a way to incorporate every demo in my class.
Q. How has your writing progressed due to this project?
A. I have received some awesome feedback from an awesome small writing group. I now feel that I know what to look at when I want to revise my work and make it better.
Q. What sort of local NWP events are you interested in particpating in?
A. I am very much interested in participating in a small writing group that writes creactive non fiction as well as fiction stories with poetry possibly thrown into the mix. I think that would be awesome, because those are the types of writings that I am most interested in involving myself.
Thanks again Keri for a wonderful experience. This writing project was even better and more rewarding than last year. You and Casey picked a very talented group of people. I am honored and humbled to have gotten the chance to be a part of this project again this year. This will be a big highlight in my summer.
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Students actively engaged...I like that thought. And allowing them a forum to share is important...I'm glad you are considering that as an essential change in your classroom.
I'm so glad you went through the project at this stage in your career. Many, and many of us in Pummill 304 with you, don't go through something like this until after many years of teaching. So I say keep growing and taking risks with your writing and your teaching of writing! Kudos!
We need to coordinate efforts to make SWG under sub-categories. That's a great idea. Last year we met and everyone brought whatever it was they were working on. I'm curious if this year we could break into "professional writing," "fiction writing," "creative non-fiction writing" etc. Wouldn't it be awesome if we actually had a lot of writers come to a lot different writing groups?! Good idea, Jason!
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